Conviction Of Rfk Jr. Upheld

U.S. & Latin America - U.S. News to Note

April 30, 2002

BOSTON -- An appeals court Monday upheld the trespassing convictions of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and labor leader Dennis Rivera for protesting U.S. Navy exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. Kennedy and Rivera appealed their 30-day prison sentences, claiming a judge had refused to consider their argument that the April 29, 2001, incursion was necessary to save endangered species on the island. They also argued that the judge should have recused himself. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected both arguments.